Achieving work-family balance is a challenge for many families in Canada, especially for dual-earner families with children in the household. Prior research regarding the predictors of work-family balance has mainly focused on work characteristics; therefore, the current study aimed to assess the predictive effect of a key family characteristic -- quality time with children -- on work-family balance. The two objectives of this study were: (a) to describe the association between time with children and parents’ work-family balance among Canadian dual-earner parents, and (b) to understand the effects of age of the youngest child, parent’s gender, and parent’s age on the association between work-family balance and quality time with children. This study used cross-sectional national time-use data from the General Social Survey (GSS) 2010, Cycle 24. T-test and logistic regression analyses were used to address the two research objectives, and all analyses were weighted. Findings indicated that work-family balance was negatively associated with quality time with children. Age of the youngest child, parent’s gender, and parent’s age were found to moderate the effect of quality time with children on work-family balance: The negative effect of quality time with children on work-family balance was stronger for parents who had a youngest child of an older age than for those who had a youngest child of a younger age, for parents who were older than for those who were younger, and for mothers more than for fathers. Findings of this study can add strength to the understanding of work-family balance of Canadian parents and have implications for helping Canadians balance their paid work and family life demands. As well, the findings indicate a more nuanced exploration of how parents’ relationships with their children affect their experience of work-family balance is needed in future research. / October 2016

The question for this thesis is whether the static and the dynamic theory of international trade stability holds in reality in Bangladesh.

My work reflects the change, growth, metamorphosis, duality, and balance that exists in my life. I focus on the process of change and necessity for adaptation. I’m interested in finding balance among the chaos of everyday living. I’m an observer, an introvert, and a thinker. I see and experience opposing forces all around me. Some are simple observations, such as good versus evil, chaos versus order, organic versus geometric, while some are more personal, such as anxiety versus depression, conflict between the inner versus outer self, disorganization versus obsessive compulsive. I’m fascinated by the delicate point at which opposing forces meet to create balance. I use a variety of papers, found objects, fiber, paint, drawing, and stitching to represent things that are picked up along my journey. Using a variety of materials and imagery represents the chaos of life. Editing, rearranging, dissecting, and reassembling these materials and imagery with deliberate choice are a way to balance the chaos I see and experience to take back control.

The world is full of extremes and I enjoy studying the contrasts of these extremes. I am influenced by the soft and subtle, as well as the rough and unrefined. From printing on the most delicate of papers, to constructing objects from scrap metal and reclaimed barn wood, the pieces I produce are studies in contrast. In these works, I place extremes of media next to one another in a way that makes the viewer feel that these opposites belong together. I struggle to make the improbable seem ordinary and the mundane seem amazing.

CONTEXT: 3-D kinematics and kinetics of the lower extremity during the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) have not been examined in FAI subjects. Additionally, the effects of Kinesio® tape use in subjects with functional ankle instability (FAI) during functional tasks is uninvestigated. OBJECTIVE: To determine if lower extremity kinematics and kinetics differed in FAI subjects using Kinesio® tape during maximal SEBT reach. SUBJECTS: Twenty subjects with FAI (Age=24.2±3.8yrs; Ht=169±11.6cm; Wt=69±12.4kg) and twenty uninjured subjects (Age=25.7±5.6yrs; Ht=170.1.4±8.8cm; Wt=69.9±10.5kg) with no history of ankle sprain. FAI was operationally defined as repeated episodes of ankle “giving way” and/or ankle “rolling over”, regardless of neuromuscular deficits or pathologic laxity. All FAI subjects scored < 26 on the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool. METHODS: SEBT reaches included the anteromedial, medial, and posteromedial directions. FAI subjects used their unstable side as the stance leg, while control subjects were side-matched to the FAI group. The stance leg ankle was taped using 1) Kinesio® tape and the Kinesio taping method (Kinesio method); 2) white linen tape with the Kinesio method; 3) Kinesio® tape along the distal peroneals tendons (lateral method); 4) white tape with the lateral method. Three-dimensional lower extremity kinematics, kinetics, and force plate data were collected during SEBT performance. A repeated measures ANOVA analyzed the effects of group, tape, tape method, and reach direction on all variables (α=0.05). Tukey HSD post-hoc analyses were performed for significant interactions. RESULTS: Normalized reach distance was not significantly different between groups in any direction (F2,76=1.16, P=.32). A significant four-way interaction for tape, method, direction, and group (F2,72=3.874, P=.03) was found. Post-hoc testing showed FAI subjects exhibited hip abduction while control subjects used hip adduction (Condition 1: .65±8.23° vs. -2.14±8.51°; Condition 2: 1.29±7.71° vs. -1.75±8.29°; Condition 3: 1.08±8.39° vs. -1.88±18.33°; Condition 4: 2.13±7.62° vs. -1.54±6.61°). Additionally, a significant difference in FAI subjects’ hip abduction angles between the white tape/Kinesio method (.65±8.23°) and Kinesio tape/Kinesio method (1.08±8.39°) was found. Conclusions: These results indicate that FAI subjects’ movement strategies differ from those of uninjured subjects. Furthermore, the use of Kinesio® tape at a distal joint can alter proximal joint movement in subjects with FAI.

Title: Effect of short-term programme in slackline on skills acquisition and ankle strength. Objectives: The aim of the work is to assess the short-term programme of specific skills and muscular strength of the ankle joint during mastering the slackline. Methods: Research sample consists of 20 probands without any experience with walking on a slackline. Probands were divided into three groups. The first training group consisted of 4 women and 2 men with mean age/body weight and heigh (24,5 ± 1,3 years / 63,7 ± 9 kg and 167,4 ± 8,3 cm). This group have trained on the slackline 2 times per week (1 training lesson lasted 60 minutes). The second training group consisted of 5 women and 3 men with mean age/body weight and height (24,6 ± 0,69 years / 70,05 ± 9,1 kg and 176,6 ± 7,7 cm). This group have trained on the slackline 1 time per a week. The third control group consisted of 5 women and 1 man with mean age/body weight and height (25,7 ± 3 years, 63,2 ± 7,4 kg and 168,7 ± 5 cm). Training programme lasted 8 weeks. Skill level was measured at the beginning, in the middle and in the end of the training programme. Measurement was carried out in a place on the slackline called "sweet spot". Further, we measured the strenght of dorsal and plantar flexion of the ankle joint. This strength was measured by...

This thesis attempted to examine the role of various task factors on children's group and individual learning on the balance beam: task presentation, task difficulty initial knowledge and physical feedback. Initially the literature is reviewed, there then follows a series of four empirical studies. The first empirical study examined if the mixed ability groups produced more learning then similar ability groups on Wilkening and Anderson's (1982) balance beam task. The study did not find the effect but it is suggested that this was due to the unsuitability of the task to the methodology used. The second study attempted to examine the effect on two levels of task difficulty on learning in groups on Sielger's (1976, 198) balance beam. It was found with higher difficulty task items the individual conditions, where children worked on their own, revealed less learning than the group work conditions, an effect that was found with the easier items. Also it was found that the children's pre-test classifications affected whether they advanced or not; the children with higher pre-test classifications showing less advancement. The third study attempted and succeeded in replicating this result. It also examined the verbal interactions between the children within the groupwork conditions. It was found that there was little relation between the dialogue within the interaction and the outcome in the post-test. The fourth study analysed the role of feedback in learning in the Sielger's balance beam, the children either worked on their own or in groups on the balance beam. They were given feedback on either all items or just the items that they performed poorly on the pre-test. It was found that the manipulation had only a slight effect on learning, but it was found that the pattern of learning across the three phases of the experiment was different for the group work conditions and the individual conditions. These findings are discussed in relation in other models and the role of the social situation is suggested.

M.Comm. (Business Management) / Changes in the corporate landscape and an increase in female participation rates in corporate workforces necessitate a better understanding of female career paths and how organisations can accommodate them better. The purpose of this study is to identify the most appropriate work-life balance benefits organisations can offer to female employees to assist them in achieving greater work-life balance. The study further aims to identify learning and development opportunities that females who have exited from their professions can follow to remain relevant and up to date in their fields. Through the literature review the study examines the need for women in corporate workforces, and inspects reasons for the underrepresentation of women in workforces. It further investigates alternative career models female professionals often embark on in an attempt to gain more balance between family responsibilities and career demands and subsequently discusses the costs associated with losing female talent. It then explores how organisations can assist female employees by offering work-life balance benefits. The study was conducted by using an online questionnaire and respondents were selected by employing a snowball sampling method. In this study research found that the most appropriate work-life balance benefits are flexible working hours, on-site childcare facilities, parental leave, part-time work, mobile working and virtual or cyber working. Conversely, the most inappropriate work-life balance benefits are weekend work, shift work, overtime, temporary or casual work, term-only working and fixed term contracts. It further found that employees who have exited from their professions can follow certain learning and development opportunities to assist them to remain relevant and up-to-date in their fields and assist them to return to full-time employment. The following learning and development opportunities were listed as being most appropriate: Attending continuous professional development courses and workshops, reading and further studies, keeping in touch with colleagues to stay updated with new developments at the office and the organisation, attending seminars and doing ad hoc, private, part-time or consulting work.

The aim of the present thesis is to compare the companies MIPEXA s.r.o. and ČKD Nové Energo a.s. from the perspective of financial analysis based on available data from 2006 to 2009. The thesis consists of two parts: theoretical and practical. In the first part, I describe financial analysis, namely its development, purpose, process, calculation of individual indicators and their informative values. In the practical part, based on calculated indicators, I attempt to compare and evaluate the development of the companies MIPEXA s.r.o. and ČKD Nové Energo a.s. and their reactions to external events. Both companies conduct business in the same field and have their headquarters in the Czech Republic; they differ in size and their financial possibilities.

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